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Sonam Wangchuk has had a long career as an innovator and activist
An Indian climate activist who this week ended a 16-day hunger strike says his fight to save the ecology of his hometown – a freezing desert in India's far north – is far away to be finished.
Sonam Wangchuk, 58, became a household name in India when Bollywood star Aamir Khan played a character inspired by him in the 2009 blockbuster 3 Idiots.
Mr. Wangchuk also had a long career as an engineer and innovator. But in recent months he has made headlines for organizing protests demanding more autonomy for people in his home region of Ladakh, a cold, mountainous desert bordering Pakistan and China.
Ladakh was part of Indian-administered Kashmir until 2019, when the government of Prime Minister Narenda Modi removed the state's special status and divided it into two federally governed territories: Jammu and Kashmir and Ladakh.
Earlier this month, parliamentary elections were held in Jammu and Kashmir for the first time since the repeal. But Ladakh remains a federal territory without legislative power.
The people of Ladakh say it is unfair and they need their own representatives. They also worry about the pace of infrastructure activity in the region, which they say is harming its fragile environment.
Before beginning his hunger strike, Mr. Wangchuk and his supporters traveled hundreds of kilometers on foot from Ladakh to reach the capital Delhi. They argued that greater autonomy for Ladakh – under a constitutional provision called the Sixth Schedule – would help prevent exploitation of natural resources.
Their march took place after months of talks between Ladakh residents and federal government officials failed.
At Delhi's borders, protesters were detained for hours, after which Mr. Wangchuk began his hunger strike. He ended it on Monday after the government promised talks would resume soon.
With his protests and interviews, Mr. Wangchuk has ensured that the demands of the people of Ladakh remain at the heart of mainstream media discourse in India for weeks.
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Mr Wangchuk called off his hunger strike in Delhi this week
Mr. Wangchuk has a long history of challenging the status quo.
As a child, he studied for three years in the city of Srinagar (then the capital of the state of Jammu and Kashmir) where classes were taught in English, Urdu and Hindi. In an interview, he recalled being the “butt of jokes” in class.
“In Srinagar, I was a stupid boy from Ladakh who spoke neither Hindi nor English,” he said.
In the 1980s, his experiences led him to question Ladakh's education system, which he believed was not meeting local needs. He protested against the use of English and Urdu textbooks in an area where most residents spoke the Ladakhi language.
“All the textbooks, even those for the first grades of primary school, came from Delhi. The examples involved unfamiliar cultures and environments like ships, oceans, coconut trees, and monsoon rains,” says a note on the website of a school he co-founded. “These alien examples in foreign languages only confuse Ladakhi children. »
Since then, he has worked with local authorities and communities to ensure that the education system meets the unique needs of children in Ladakh.
His innovations also made the news.
Mr Wangchuk studied mechanical engineering after a relative noticed his experiments with concave mirrors to light dark buildings and cook food.
In recent years, he has developed a low-cost terracotta house that maintains a temperature of 15°C even in -15°C conditions.
He also designed an artificial spring in the form of an ice stupa – a hemispherical structure common in Buddhist cultures – that stores water downstream for use in late spring, when farmers need water. water.
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Bollywood star Aamir Khan (center) played a character based on Mr. Wangchuk in 2009's '3 Idiots'
Earlier this year, Mr Wangchuk took part in a 21-day protest in freezing cold “to remind the government of its promises to safeguard the environment and indigenous tribal culture of Ladakh”.
He was joined by thousands who fasted with him and held protests.
It was when these protests failed to produce the expected results that Mr. Wangchuk marched to Delhi.
In the capital, he continued his demands regarding the Sixth Scheme in Ladakh: this provision, implemented in the northeastern states of India, gives special powers to tribal people to safeguard their interests in areas such as natural resources and infrastructure. Ladakh has a majority tribal population.
“The sixth program gives residents not only a right but also a responsibility to preserve their climate, their forests, their rivers and their glaciers,” he told reporters.
Mr. Wangchuk and his supporters say the fragile Himalayan ecology is at risk in the absence of constitutional guarantees.
Concerns stem from the fact that the government has accelerated infrastructure development in border regions.
Ladakh is of strategic importance to India as it shares borders with China and Pakistan.
The federal government has sanctioned several highways, power projects and military infrastructure in Ladakh, which Wangchuk said will harm the region, especially in the absence of consultation with local representatives.
“We are not opposed to development. We want sustainable growth,” he said.
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Earlier this year, thousands protested in Ladakh
Mr Wangchuk and his supporters say Ladakh's ecology means it cannot follow the development models of other Indian states. They say city dwellers are not aware of the unique needs of the Himalayan regions.
“You don't see this in your cities, but in Ladakh there are real seasons of winter, summer and spring, just like you read in books,” said Haji Mustafa, who had marched with Mr. Wangchuk to Delhi.
The protesters also complained that locals are not benefiting from the projects in Ladakh.
“Our natural resources are being exploited. Unemployment is very high. Local businessmen are unhappy. So, who is this development aimed at? » asked Mr. Mustafa.
The BBC sent questions to Tashi Gyalson, who heads the Ladakh Autonomous Hills Development Board.
In the meantime, protesters say they will continue their fight until they have a say in what is happening in Ladakh.
Earlier this week, as the government agreed to resume negotiations, Wangchuk expressed hope that a solution would emerge soon.
“I hope that the negotiations will take place in mutual trust and lead to a happy ending for all,” he said. “And that I will no longer have to sit on an empty stomach or walk 1,000 km to the capital.”
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